The Brookhaven leader., 1887-04-07

The Lord shut hI.a ia
There zones upon the cool man delugt
OF financial troubles He had his thou
sands TO lend; now he can not borrow {
. dollar He once owned store in New
York, and had branch houses in Boston
Philadelphia and New Orleans. He owned
four horses and employed a man to kecI
the dust of his coach, phaetou. carriage
and curricle; now he has hard work "a
get shoes IN which 10 walk. The great
deep Of commercial disaster was broken
up, and fore and aft, and across tn, hurri
cane deck. the waves struck him. But he
was safely she 'teFed from the storm.
The Lord shut him.
A Hood OF domes tie troubles f,ll on him.
Sickness and bereavement, cam TIC
rain paIted. The win Is blew. The Heav-
ems are afiame. All the gardens Of earth
ly delight are washed away. The fuHnt.
aims of JOY are buried fifteen cubitS dc'p
But, standing by Tia" empty or b, and IN
the dcsolated nursery. aud IN the dolcful
hall. once airing with merry VOICES, now
silent forever, he cried
The Lord gave the Lord hath taken away;
blessed be the name OF the Lord
The Lord shut HIM in.
All the sins of a lifetime clamorCd for
his overthrow. Th' brollCl vows. the dis
honest Sabbaths. the outrageous profan-
ties. the misdCmeanors of twenty
years, reached up their hands to
the door of the k u pull him out
The IoundIess ocean of his sin sur
rounded his soul. bowling like a simeon,
ravIng like an curoclydon. But, looking
out of the window. he saw his sins sink
like lead into the sea. The dove of Heav.
en- brought an olive branch TO the ark.
The wrath Of the billow only pushed hi III
toward Heaven.
The Lord shut him in
The same door fastcnings that kept
Noah in keep the world OUT. | am glad TO
| know that when a man reaches Heaven all
! earthly troubles are done with him. Here
/ he may have had it har TO get bread for
! his family: there ha Will never hunger any
more. Here he may have wept bitterly;
| there
! The lamb that Is In tho midst OF the throne
/ Will lend him To living fountains OF water. and
J God will wipe away all tears from his eyes.
Here he may have hard work TO get a
! house; but il my fathers house are many
mansions and rent day never comes. Here
there are death-beds. and collins, and
| graves; there no sickness, no weary watch
ing, no choking cough. no consuming
| fever, no chattcrng chill. n tolling bell,
.
up and knock at the door, but no admit
lance. The parpiexitieS Of life shall come
up and knock on the door. but no admit
tanca. safe forever! All the agony of
earth in one wave dashing against tn"
bulwarks of the ship of celestial light
shall not break them down. How. on, yc
winds, and rage, We seas!
| The Lord shut him in
o, what grand old door, So wide. so
easily swung both ways, and with such
sure faSteungS. No burglars key can
pick that lock. No swarthy arm of hell
can shove back the bolt. | rel Dice that
do not ask you to come aboard a crazy
craft with leaking hulk and broken helm,
and unfastened door; but an ark fifty
cubits wide, and three hundred cubits
long. and a door so large that the round
earth, without grazing the posts might
be boWlcd in.
Now, if the ark of Christ is so grand d
place In which to live, and die, AMI
triumph, come into the ark Know we'll
that the door that shut Noah in shut the
world out; ana though, when the pi,iIcss
storm came pelting on their hca Is, they
beat upon the door, saying. Let me in.
let ME inl' the door did not open. For
one hundred and twenty years thy were
| invited. They expected to come in; but
the antediluvians said
we must cultivate these fields: we
must be worth more hDclis of sheep and
herds Of cattle: We will wait until We get
little older: W. viii en. y our Old farm
a little longer
But meanwhile the storm vas brewing.
! The fountains of ,aven ware filing up.
Thu pry was being placed beneath tho
/ foundations of tn" great dnep. The last
! year had come. the last month, the last
week, the last day. the last hour, the la at
moment. In an awful dash, an ocean
droppe from the sky. and another rcNe
| up from beneath; and Got oiled the
earth and sky into one wave of universal
| destruction.
SO men now put off going into the ark.
They say they will wait twenty years
first. They will have little longer time
with their worldly associates. They Will
wait until they get older. They say:
You can not expect a man of my at
talnments and of my position TO surrender
myself just now But before the storm
comes will go in. Yes will. | know
what am about. Trust me"
After awhile, one night about twelve
O'Clock, going home he passes scafFold-
ing as gust OF wind strikes if, and a
plank falls. Dead. and outsi lie the ark !
o., riding in the park reckless vehicle
crashes into him. and his horse becomes
unmana geable, aud he shouts ''Whoa,
whoa and takes another twist IN the
reins, and plants his feet against the
dashboard, and pulls back. But no use.
1t is not so much down the avenue TINT he
flies as on the way to ctornitY Dat of the
wreck of the crash his bOly is
drawn, but his soul is no.
picked up. 1t hhi behinl swift
e. courser into the great future. Dead!
and outside the ark o.. some night, he
wakes up with distres that MON ntari-
ly increases, until he shire Ks out with
pain. The doctors come in, and they give
him twenty drops. but no rolief; forty
drops fifty drops, sixty drops, but no re-
lief No time for prayer. No time to read
one of the promises No tima 10 get a
single sin parionel. The whole house is
aroused in alarm. Tn childre 5 'ream
The wife faints. 1h9 pulses fail The
heart stop1 The soul tiie5 On! my
God dead and outside the ark
Ihlve no doubt that derisioI kept many
people out of the ARK. The world laughe
to see a man 60 in, and said
Here IS q man starting fOr the ak.
Why there will h no deluge. If there is
one, that niserai |, ship VIII not weather
1t. Aha! going into the ark Well, that
is too good to keep. Here, fellows, have
you heard the news! This man is going
into the ark
Under this artillery of scOru the man :
good resolution persisted.
And 50 there are hundreds kept ont 10y